Alekhine Busts The Benoni
Because there are no earlier examples of a World-class player taking apart the 5...g6 variation of the Benoni in the database at www.chessgames.com, this particular game is of great historical merit, and exemplifies Alekhine's creativity and determination to find winning tactics and maneuvers in over-the-board play.
New York, 1924
Benoni Defence (A56)
WHITE: Alekhine BLACK: Mugridge
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 d6 4. Nc3 e5 5. e4 g6
Position after 5...g6
Mugridge
Alekhine
Black's 5th is reasonable, but by far the most common 5th move choice is 5...Be7. Former World Champion Tigran Petrosian, who excelled at defending in cramped and difficult positions, managed to gain more full- and half-points with this variation than did former World Champion contenders Bent Larsen and Viktor Korchnoi.
6. f4 Bg4
Black's 6th move could have been 6...exf4 or 6...Nh5, but the advantage would still have been to White. The text practically assures the exchange which follows, and Mugridge must have keenly felt the absence of his QB by his 21st move.
7. Be2
Position after 7. Be2
Mugridge
Alekhine
It's interesting to note that Crafty doesn't favor Alekhine's 7. Be2 until its search depth reaches 11, at which time it still rejects Alekhine's 8th move, 8. Qxe2, preferring instead 8. Ngxe2. At a depth of 12, however, Crafty even rejects 7. Be2 in favor of 7. Qa4+, scoring the variation 7...Nfd7 8. fxe5 dxe5 9. Be2 Bxe2 10. Ngxe2 f5 11. Qc2 Nb6 12. b3 Qh4+ 13. g3 Qg4 at 0.77, a significant advantage for White.
7...Bd7 8. Qb3 b6 9. fxe5 dxe5 10. Nf3 Bg7 11. Bd3 Qe7 12. O-O O-O 13. Qc2 Qd6, a variation Crafty found at a depth of 13, appears to be a slight improvement for Black, but still gets a score of 0.66, again a marked advantage for White.
7...Bxe2 8. Qxe2 Nbd7 9. Nf3
Position after 9. Nf3
Mugridge
Alekhine
While still crunching variations for Black's 7th move, Crafty "liked" Alekhine's 9. Nf3 when the search depth was 11, but upon reaching a depth of 12, it "thought" 9. Nh3 was the better move for White. The score difference, 0.72 for 9. Nf3, vs. 0.73 for 9. Nh3, isn't of much significance.
9...exf4 10. Bxf4
Position after 10. Bxf4
Mugridge
Alekhine
Alekhine may have anticipated 10...Qc7 11. Nb5 Qa5+ 12. Kf2 Qb6, rating a 0.72 score by Crafty at a depth of 8, but Mugridge tries to gain space on the King's-side, and Alekhine counters by finding interesting complications.
10...Nh5 11. Bg5
Position after 11. Bg5
Mugridge
Alekhine
Provoking a loosening of Black's King's-side pawn structure. This can be avoided with 11...Be7 12. Bh6 Bh4+ 13. g3 Bf6 14. g4 Bxc3+ 15. bxc3 Nhf6 16. e5 dxe5 17. Nxe5 Nxe5 18. Qxe5, but the game would still be decidedly in White's favor.
11...f6 12. Be3 Ne5?
Position after 12...Ne5?
Mugridge
Alekhine
Judging from Crafty's reaction to White's 12th move, it would appear Black's 12th was a serious mistake. At a depth of merely 2, the continuation 12...Ne5 13. O-O got a 0.9 score, while at a depth of 14, 12...Qe7 13. Nb5 O-O-O 14. g4 a6 15. Nxd6+ Qxd6 16. gxh5 Re8 17. Qc2 f5 18. Ng5 Be7 19. Nf7 Bh4+ 20. Kd1 got a 0.79 score.
It's amazing how Alekhine's King's-side attack gathered momentum after Black's offer of a Knight swap.
13. Nxe5 fxe5 14. O-O
Position after 14. O-O!
Mugridge
Alekhine
With his King safely Castled and his KR in possession of the of the open f-file, Alekhine threatens action on the Queen's-side. Black's best continuation seems to be 14...Qd7 15. Qc2 Be7 16. a3 O-O-O 17. b4 Kb8 18. bxc5 dxc5 19. Qa4 Qg4 20. Nb5 a6 21. Nc3.
14...Bg7?
Failing to play 14...Qd7, which would have denied Alekhine's Queen access to g4, Mugridge finds his King pinned down in the center, where it succombs to Alekhine's tactical prowess.
15. Qg4 Qe7 16. Bg5 Bf6 17. Bh6 Ng7?
Position after 17...Ng7?
Mugridge
Alekhine
At this point Crafty was given nearly eight hours to come up with an attack, which differed from that actually chosen by Alekhine. While it did find the Rook sacrifice, even at a depth of 20 it failed to come up with 20. Nb5!, overloading Black's Queen with the defence of three weak points-the pawn at d6, the c7 square, and the Knight at g7.
What Crafty suggested as the winning continuation was:
18. Rxf6! Qxf6 19. Rf1 Qe7 20. Bg5 h5 21. Qg3 Qd7 22. Qf3 Nf5 23. exf5 gxf5 24. Qxf5 Qxf5 25. Rxf5 Rg8.
18. Rxf6! Qxf6
Position after 18...Qxf6
Mugridge
Alekhine
At a depth of 17, Crafty still preferred 19. Rf1 Qe7 20. Bg5 h5 21. Qh4 Qd7 22. Qf2 Nf5 23. exf5 gxf5 24. Qxf5 Qxf5 25. Rxf5 Rg8 26. Kf2 Kd7, over the continuation Alekhine actually used.
19. Rf1 Qe7 20. Nb5! Rd8??
Position after 20...Rd8??
Mugridge
Alekhine
The losing move, because it robs Black's King of an important escape square-d8.
Had Black assessed the situation correctly, he might have tried 20...Rf8 21. Rxf8+ Kxf8 22. Bg5 Qf7 23. Nxd6 Qc7 24. Qf3+ Kg8 25. Qf6 Rf8 26. Qxe5 Qa5 27. Qc3 Qxa2 28. Nxb7 Qb1+ 29. Bc1 Qxe4 30. Nxc5, and Alekhine wouldn't have had another miniature.
21. Bxg7!
Position after 21. Bxg7!
Mugridge
Alekhine
It would be suicide for Black to recapture, because of 22. Qe6+ Qe7 23. Nc7 mate. And 21...Rg8 loses to 22. Nc7+ Qxc7 23. Qe6+ Qe7 24. Qxg8+ Kd7 25. Qxh7, while 21...Qd7 loses to 22. Nxd6+ Qxd6 23. Bxh8 b5 24. cxb5 c4 25. Qg3 Qb6+ 26. Rf2 Rd7 27. Qxe5+ Re7 28. Qf4 Qxb5, receiving a Crafty score of 9.67 at a depth of 12.
At a depth of 14, Crafty scored the variation 21...Qd7 22. Nxd6+ Qxd6 23. Bxh8 a6 24. Qh3 Qe7 25. Bf6 Qd7 26. Bxd8 Qxh3 27. gxh3 Kxd8 28. Rf7 h6 a 10.38, definitely a winning advantage.
Black resigned.
